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Three former Gurkha soldiers lost their High Court battle yesterday over a pensions deal with the government which they say has left them in poverty.

Kumar Shrestha, Kamal Purja and Sambahadur Gurung â all in their late 30s and retired due to ill health â argued they had been treated unlawfully and unfairly.

Their lawyers claimed the men â recruited from the Himalayan country of Nepal â had been denied pensions equal to other British servicemen because their years of service were valued at only between 24 per cent and 36 per cent of rates.

But Mr Justice Ouseley ruled the Ministry of Defence had acted reasonably. ‘If there was indirect discrimination on the grounds of age or âother statusâ, it was justified and proportionate,’ he said.

The court battle followed an offer by the MoD in March 2007 to transfer Gurkhas’ pensions into one of the mainstream Armed Forces ones.

However, the three argued that the new arrangements were irrational and discriminated against them on the grounds of age.

Lawyers for the Gurkhas said they were ‘saddened’ by the judgment and would appeal.

The MoD said it welcomed the court’s ruling that the recent pensions transfer offer was ‘fair and reasonable’.